PEORIA, Ariz. —
Manny Machado, with huge mutton chops and a smaller midsection and (maybe) slightly bigger arms, doesn’t dispute the idea that his second year with the Padres must be better than his first.
But it’s no big deal. Nothing has changed. A bounce-back year isn’t coming up just for the sake of letting people know he’s still one of the best players in the game.
“I don’t have to show anybody,” Machado said Tuesday, 364 days after he signed what was for nine days the richest free agent contract in the history of U.